We Travel the Spaceways - Victor LaValle - ★★★

AUTHOR: Victor LaValle

SERIES: Black Stars, #6

GENRE: Speculative Fiction.

RATING: 3 stars.

In a Nutshell: Good, not great. Interesting concept but somewhat jumpy execution. Might have worked better if lengthier.

Story Synopsis:

‘Grimace’ is a homeless drifter, fending for himself by eating what he can find in dumpsters of fast food outlets. He is also a man on a religious mission. A mission that is delivered to him by his empty soda cans, who are somehow bringing him instructions from beyond his realm of understanding.

When he bumps into Kim, a transgender woman who is battling her own demons, the two unite on the quest. Is Grimace actually executing the tasks of some divine entity who speaks to him through metal cans, or has he just lost his mind?

The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Grimace.

This story is a part of ‘Black Stars’, described by Amazon as ‘a multi-dimensional collection of speculative fiction from Black authors. Each story is a world much like our own.’

Of all the stories I have read in this collection, this one explores the intricacies of the word ‘speculative’ in the most curious manner. As we hear Grimace’s story in his own first-person perspective, it is confusing to see him having bizarre conversations with his soda cans and spouting astronomical facts out of the blue. His character provides this story with a greater challenge, as we are forced to overcome our internal biases against a possibly-crazy homeless person and explore an unexpected possibility.

Kim has a smaller role in the story as she comes on the scene much later, though she does end up making a mark. Having a transgender character reveal her emotional struggles and overcoming her insecurities within the word-count restrictions of a short story is a tough task, but the author handles this well.

I can’t forget to mention the seemingly omniscient soda cans who are always ready to relay messages and advice to Grimace. They made for entertaining characters, with their personalities matching their brands.

The pace is quite slow at the start and also has a few logical jumps, but the second half does better in filling in most of the gaps. The religious angle in the story is subtle, but thought-inducing.

Even with these positives, I can’t help but feel that the story could have done better. There was so much potential with that mysterious divine angle and the big reveal at the end, but unfortunately, the elaborations are minimal and the writing, too disjointed. With too many things left unsaid, this story simply doesn’t impress the way it could have.

Moreover, the first person pov serves as a limitation. The story become hard to follow as Grimace seems to meander here, there and everywhere not just physically but also mentally. The result is a somewhat chaotic ride through his thoughts and actions, until we finally figure out what’s he doing and why.

All in all, this is a decent story, though not the best in the collection by far. A one-time read, which might not stay in your mind for long but will offer some points to think about as long as it is open on your screen.

This standalone work is the sixth story in the “Black Stars” collection, and is currently available free to Amazon Prime subscribers.

I have read five stories of this collection, and won’t be reading the last one as it is rated quite poorly on Goodreads and I don’t want to waste my time.

My favourite from ‘Black Stars’: These Alien Skies by C.T. Rwizi.